Originally Posted by 22B
One possibility is that they were in fact being harassed. If so then the student was exercising his own free speech and not merely acting as a pawn. (It is impossible for the judge to legitimately conclude the student was merely acting as a pawn. How could he possibly know that?)

According to the article, the child made statements ahead of time (premeditation) to a teacher in which he said he would be in trouble with his parents (pawn) if he shook the superintendent's hand.